Bill's Journal
by The Master Of Squids
Summary: Bill wants to head to Oregon City and start a new life, along with some of his friends and family. However, to get there he must travel the Oregon Trail. Based off of the journal entries the game and I wrote in a playthrough of the Oregon Trail video game.
1. Preparations

_Disclaimer: I don't own the Oregon Trail game or anything in the Oregon Trail game.  
_

* * *

February 29, 1948

My name is Bill, and this is my journal. In two days I will head out on the trail towards Oregon City! Coming along with me are my friend Bob and his girlfriend Catherine. My wife, Susan, is also coming along with us to Oregon. We have a large wagon that we hope will make it to Oregon.  
I've got quite the list of skills. I used to be a pharmacist, so I have quite a bit of money and a lot of medical skills, including knowing a lot about plants. My dad's brother was a blacksmith and my mom's brother was a carpenter. I'm not an expert, but I may be able to use some skills I picked up from them. Finally, people say that when I play the fiddle it makes them want to get up and dance. Of course, this is the Oregon Trail. Why would I ever need fiddle-playing skills?  
So, on the first of March, I'll go into town of Independence and FULFILL MY DESTINY. Okay, first I'll have to buy supplies. I'll also have to survive to really long and dangerous journey to Oregon. But when I get to Oregon City, it'll be great! I can get a land deed and make my own life into whatever I want it to be! I can FULFILL MY DESTINY! Or something along those lines.

March 1, 1948

Bob, Catherine, Susan, and I went to go buy the needed supplies at the stores around Independence. But first I decided to check the news: _Former President John Quincy Adams Dies._  
Great. That's just the news you want to hear when starting off on a trip that could end your life. Trying to ignore that headline, I stepped into the nearby general store. There were many goods. I decided to get 650 pounds of bacon, 250 pounds of salt pork, 1000 pounds of potatoes, 1000 pounds of flour, and a bit more food. It was a long way to Oregon. We need all the food we can get. Despite what Susan says, I think the load will be fine as long as we get enough oxen to pull our wagon.  
I then checked the pharmacy for any medicines we might need. After staring in wonder at the magnificent collection, I decided to buy two of everything. Better safe than sorry.  
I also decided we might need a gun to defend ourselves from savages, buffalo, bears, or geese. What? Geese are vicious; I got attacked by some in my youth, so don't think they're all quite and cuddly. Inside, they're evil. Anyway, I bought a rifle, five kegs of gunpowder, and five boxes of bullets.  
I bought spare wagon parts, because you never know. I also bought ten oxen and two of the finest mules I've ever laid eyes on. At least, that's what I'll tell someone when trying to trade one for something else.  
We decided to join a good-sized wagon train. Not too small or too big. Then, right outside the city, a group of the wagon train's people asked if I had any experience in the outdoors. I told them that I lived in the woods of Kentucky as a young one, and I was headed out to Oregon not just for the land, but also for the experience of adventure. Standard reasons for leaving home, right? An hour or two later, they were back and told me that they had elected me leader of the wagon train! Me! I'll certainly try my best. I'm not sure if I'm the best choice. I'm certainly not the worst, but I packed a guidebook to the Oregon Trail. Hopefully it will help. We'll be heading out in the morning, on our way to Oregon City!


	2. Stepping Into the Wild

March 2, 1948

Our trip is not starting out well. Let me explain:  
We came to the Blue River outside of Independence, which was frozen over. So the only thing to do would be to go across it while the ice still held. We had almost made it across when we heard a crack. We then fell through and got soaked to the bone. Not to mention, we lost quite a bit of food during the incident. I'm now completely sure that these people are thankful for electing me leader.  
After we managed to pull the wagon from the ice, I realized something. I hadn't bought any extra clothes! So our wagon train, with people that were soaked and freezing on it, had to stop at Westport, which wasn't even that far away. Why didn't we just start shopping here? We bought quite a lot of clothes, and we bought even more bacon to replace the food lost. I also traded one of my very fine mules for a fiddle. I figured music is what we need to keep our spirits up as we press on towards Oregon.

March 3, 1948

Why are there towns everywhere? Why did we have to start at Independence if all the towns around here have shops with tools and food in them? Well, Independence's shops had a more diverse selection, but would it kill them to take supplies out three days west so pioneers don't have to worry about crossing over that Blue River with many supplies? The supplies are heavy, and starting at a city like New Santa Fe. could save people from drowning in the river!  
I bought some chain. I'm not sure why. I figured it could come in handy. Tomorrow is the day when, according the townsfolk, we leave the civilized world and head to the western country of Oregon!

March 7, 1948

Other than the chilling temperatures, not much has been going on in terms of danger. I was told we passed by Lone Elm, but I wasn't paying attention and did not see it. Which was sad, I thought that Lone Elm, whatever it is, might be cool to see. My guidebook probably says something about that, but who needs a guidebook? We're just heading west!  
In other news, today we came upon Blue Mound. Who thought it was a good idea to name it that? Blue Mound isn't blue! Blue Mound is green! What pioneer saw a green mound and thought "I think a good name for this mound would be Blue Mound," and named it that!? How did the name even stick!? Even now, when the thing is covered in snow, it isn't blue! It's white! If the thing was named White Mound or Green Mound I'd be happy.  
Oh well. I'm sure there aren't any other poorly named monuments or landmarks on the trail.


	3. Frozen

March 8, 1848

With all this cold weather, Susan is freezing. We think she might have hypothermia and we didn't notice until now. So I decided that we needed to stop and do something about this.  
After stopping our wagon train, Bob came to me and asked me if I wanted to build either a fire or feed her warm food. The conversation after that went pretty much like this:

Me: Uh, can't we do both?  
Bob: I'm afraid we can't do that. We don't have time; the wagon train is getting farther away from us every second we talk.  
Me: I'm the leader of the wagon train! They can't leave me behind!  
Bob: Well, that's what they're going to do if you don't hurry!  
(I then got a vision of some Napoleon-looking guy from the wagon train laughing manically as the wagon train slowly drew away from us.)  
Me: Okay, how about this: We build a fire, and I make some warm food while she's warming up by it. Then, while we're catching up to the wagon train, she can eat the food!  
Bob: I don't think that'll work.  
Me: Well, WHY NOT!?  
Bob: It just won't work.  
Me: You know what I think? I think you _want _Susan to die!  
Bob: No, I don't! But the game mechanics won't allow us to do more than one thing to help her!  
Me: Yeah, well… wait, _what_!?  
Bob: I've said too much! What do you want to do? We can either build a fire or feed her warm food!

After a few more minutes of arguing, we decided that making a fire would be the best option. I was going to find some food, warm it up, and feed it to her, but we had to go before I had even started cooking the food.  
I really hope Susan pulls out of this soon…

March 9, 1848

Many things happened today. Early in the morning, while we were heading west, Catherine came to me and told me her hands her frostbitten. Frostbite is easy to treat. When I was a young lad, before my days as a pharmacist, I always hanged out with a group of boys. We called ourselves the Scouts, a name my good friend Johnny. One of the most interesting things I learned with these boys was the best way to treat frostbite. While some people were telling me to rub snow on her frostbitten hands, I was slowly restoring warmth to the area. She told me she felt better after a while, and we kept on going.  
Things took a turn for the worst after lunch, when Susan froze to death. I didn't even think about not stopping for the funeral. We buried her a few days west of the Blue Mound, which isn't actually blue. Bob was crying more than any of us, I guess he felt it was his fault. I couldn't hold a grudge against him and comforted him. Only three of us are left on our trip to Oregon, and we're only nine days away from Independence. We continue because we know that's what Susan would have wanted us to do.

R.I.P. Susan  
1824 – 1848  
Buried a few days west of Blue Mound, which isn't actually blue.


	4. The Song

March 12, 1848

We are having the worst luck possible on this trip. Not only do we fall in the first river we cross, Catherine gets frostbite and Susan freezes to death! Bob has also come down with a terrible cold today. We can't make it to Oregon if these things keep happening! The only good thing that's happened today is that we made it over the Kansas River. _Great_ consolation for someone dying, making it over _one _river. I think we may never get to Oregon.  
The only reason we don't leave and turn around is because we know Susan would want us to get Oregon. She would say it's much better than the life we were living back home. I can only hope the legends of the bountiful and cheap lands of Oregon are true. Of course, with my luck, the lands of Oregon are all barren deserts.

March 13, 1848

I was talking about my bad luck yesterday. Today it just got worse.  
First of all, Bob's foot was frostbitten. However, using my amazing frostbite-healing skills, I was able to treat it. Bob somewhat recovered from his cold, and he certainly isn't dying anymore. I've realized that I've had surprisingly good luck this trip, especially considered Bob caught a cold, Catherine got frostbite, and Susan, well, died.  
Fortunately, we were able to make it to Saint Mary's Mission. There we bought a bit more food and a blanket to keep us warm. Unfortunately, some people were playing an extremely annoying tune at the mission, which was lodged into my head. It is, in fact, still stuck in my head. The tune isn't even subtly annoying; it's loud, obnoxious, and just plain awful. I hope the tune will go away soon.

March 14, 1848

My luck has not changed. Want to know how I know that? Because the STUPID MUSIC WON'T GO AWAY! I've tried playing a different song on my fiddle. It didn't work. I hope when we get to the next town, fort, or whatever, that something better than this junk will get stuck in my head. Have I mentioned that I hate this song?  
I've tried everything to get the song out of my head. I've tried playing my fiddle. It didn't work. I had Catherine, how can actually sing very well, sing for me. It didn't work. I got everyone on the wagon train to sing during our nightly campfire. It didn't work. I know I should be more worried about myself dying, but this music is torture. The last thing I want is to hear this stupid song play in my head before I die.


End file.
